Something More
by Sabriel A
Summary: A story about a Gryffindor girl trying to deal with the loss of a loved one. SPOILERS: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
1. Dreaming

Author's notes: This is my first ever fanfiction, so I apologize for any structural errors. Anything easily fixed, such as spacing and chapter length (which I really don't know anything about) please e-mail me or tell me in a review. This is a reaction story to the ending of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I hate spoiling things, so please don't read the story unless you have finished the book. It's up to you, of course, but don't say I didn't warn you. The story involves a graduating seventh year (Chloe, an OC) dealing with the loss of a loved one. Thank you much!  
  
Warning: SPOILERS FROM HP: OOTP. Just in case you didn't read that block of text above.  
  
Disclaimer: I own only the plot, the room, and Chloe/Stella/Jane; everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, and I am making no money from this. No copyright infringement is intended. The song mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter, 'Leaving Only Scars,' belongs to the band Systematic.  
  
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"Throw, throw me a line so I won't drown," she whispered to herself, lying in her bed half-asleep. She tried to keep the tune in her head as she whispered, wondering if dear old mum would flay her for listening to that 'wretched muggle music'. "The shore just seems too far."  
  
The rest of the song played through her mind, but she was too exhausted to pay enough attention to keep it running smoothly. Words beginning the verses and chorus would pop in at the wrong time, making her mind play the song embarrassingly out of order. She didn't care. There was emptiness at the pit of her stomach she imagined must resemble the gaping hole a quaffle being forced through her torso would cause. It expelled such stupid things as wanting things in careful order from her mind. It was an emptiness she wasn't surprised to find covered by a very full feeling just under her rib cage that swelled at thoughts of her love and forced tears through her tightly shut eyes. It was almost too much to bear. Almost.  
  
Chloe was thankful that this swelling under her ribcage had subsided somewhat after listening to music only she could hear (she was very good at music-related charms), and continued to hear it run through her mind even after the charm had worn off. It seemed to be the only thing keeping her from breaking down since she'd found out about what happened. Dumbledore had thankfully agreed not to tell Harry about it, both of them knowing it could only do more harm than good. His godfather - his own father's best friend - and a seventh year.Chloe could imagine how that might push the poor boy over the edge.  
  
Chloe opened her eyes a little, looking at the canopy on her four-poster. She blinked slowly, imagining the days that she had left to spend at the school as if there were a weeklong calendar in her mind. It seemed only a short while ago she'd been a lanky, skinny, eleven-year-old blonde girl with timid blue eyes stepping off the train for the first time with brand new Hogwarts robes. She shook her head a bit, hardly able to imagine how much she'd changed. How very much indeed. She couldn't remember what it was like to be that innocent, although the pictures she saw of herself, her memories, attested to the fact that she had indeed been, at one time, an innocent young witch.  
  
She closed her eyes again. She promised herself that the next day, two days before the end-of-year feast, she would start an all-day round of the castle, exploring her favorite hideouts, passageways, and some rooms she'd always been a little too cautious to visit. She knew her love would have approved, maybe even risked a trip as Snuffles to come join her.  
  
The fullness started to swell a bit, but thankfully only a few tears leaked from her eyes, squeezed shut again, before it faded. With thoughts of his handsome face and his courageous heart at the front of her mind and filling her own tender heart, she rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes for the last time that night.  
  
Chloe heard a noise that sounded like a dog panting; then she heard the curtains drawn around her four-poster shuffle around. She pushed herself up a little, seeing Sirius appear by her bedside. She pushed herself onto her knees, pulling him into a loving embrace, a passionate kiss. She felt his strong back under his soft flannel shirt. He joined her on the bed, she could feel the springs groan under the extra weight, he seemed to be sinking into her; their spirits were intertwined.but he became just that, nothing more, only a spirit evanescing into the night.  
  
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Comments? Constructive criticism? Please leave a review if you'd be so kind. The next chapter will be up soon, promise! Anything you didn't understand, ask, and I will answer through e-mail. Thanks again!!! 


	2. Exploration

Thank you so much for reviewing! Didn't want to keep anyone waiting too long, so here's the second chapter.  
  
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Chloe woke up, blinking hard to clear her mind. Her sheets were still in order, her comforter unwrinkled by offending knees. She sighed, pushing back the curtain to let a sliver of light glow across the floor, then crawl up the side of her bed, and end as a vertical barrier between two blocks of shadow on the other side of her curtain. It took her a few moments to realize that the reason it was so blurry was not the fuzziness of a clouded mind, but silent tears escaping to obscure her vision.  
  
She let out a quiet sigh, hearing the regulated deep breathing of the other occupants of her dorm. 'Must not be very late, then,' she thought, small drops still gliding down her pink cheeks. She didn't know what kind of freak she was to be crying and at the same time commenting on the time of day, as if gauging this could be somehow important. She cupped her hands around her arms just above the elbows, reflexively closing herself in before lying back down and closing her eyes, knowing she'd get no more sleep.  
  
Later that morning, as she daydreamed about their first kiss, she was snapped back to reality by the sound of her two best friends arguing vehemently over something. Hoping it had nothing to do with the return of Voldemort - if Dumbledore could say his name, why couldn't she? - she sat up in bed, curtains still drawn. She strained to listen for key words, but after a few seconds it was no longer needed.  
  
"No! Listen! She's singing 'It's no fault of mine, it's all cause of your life.' Listen, here's the chorus."  
  
Her friend, she wasn't sure if it was Stella or Jane - their voices were very similar, even for twins - was trying to convince her sister of a song lyric. When they both quieted to listen, she heard the words and knew that the girl was wrong; the song lyric said 'cause of your lies.'  
  
"Hah!" laughed the other twin, "It's lies! She's saying lies."  
  
"No, no, no, it's life! Chloe!"  
  
At this, Chloe finally opened her curtains. She yawned for effect and opened her eyes slowly. "You called?"  
  
"Chloe, listen, what's she saying?" Stella asked her anxiously. Chloe didn't need to listen to the song again to know what it was she was saying, but she had to convince them she'd just woken up. She didn't want them asking any more questions. Like everybody else, they didn't know about her and Sirius. Dumbledore only knew they were friends. Stella and Jane still believed Sirius to be an escaped murderer on the loose. They had no idea.  
  
Chloe waited for the chorus, pretending to listen with her eyes on the wand in Stella's hand. Jane hadn't said anything yet, patiently waiting for Chloe to confirm that she was right, once again. " 'It's not fault of mine, it's all cause of your lies,' " she replied. "Who was right?" she asked innocently.  
  
"I was," Jane said calmly, taking her wand back from Stella. "That's three knuts, Stell."  
  
"Three knuts? Over a song lyric? That's a strange bet," Chloe questioned, one eyebrow raised. Outwardly, she seemed her usual cynical self, but inside, she felt like crying again. It was strange to her that people could still go on with their daily lives. She couldn't understand how things could still be simple.  
  
Chloe didn't feel like brushing her hair or doing any part of the usual hygienic routine. She put on some comfortable clothes, a black cardigan and jeans, then Hogwarts robes over that. She left the dorms without Stella and Jane to many snickers and whispers. There'd been a rumor that she'd joined Voldemort, following in her father's footsteps. This was all trivial to her, with that quaffle-sized hole in her stomach. Jane and Stella didn't know why she was so depressed all of a sudden, but they assumed it had something to do with You-Know-Who.  
  
She climbed through the portrait hole and made for the humpbacked witch. She was going to run to the Shrieking Shack and back first, and on the way, she would form an itinerary. Cover the fifth floor first, then make her way back and forth along the corridors. She'd save one special room she'd never been to for last.  
  
She finally came to the witch, taking out her wand and whispering. She hopped through the hole and started running after she'd slid to the floor of the tunnel, not stopping until under the shack.  
  
Chloe popped her head into the room, pushing herself up to look around the room. She'd visited once with Sirius on one of her trips to Hogsmeade. He'd met with Harry that day and was very worried. She mended that, though.  
  
As tears seemed to be just at the breaking point, she jumped back down and ran flat out back to the castle. She would never visit the Shrieking Shack again. She lasted until climbing through the witch, behind whom she promptly collapsed into a fit of sobs and shudders. She couldn't stop herself; she just exploded right there in the empty corridor. She knew her face was about five shades redder than she ever burned in the sun. She couldn't see. All she knew was that she missed him terribly, more than she could ever put into words. It was so much she could barely breathe. She just sat there against the wall, gasping and sobbing while tears streamed constantly down her burning cheeks.  
  
She didn't know how long she was there, but when she'd finally started breathing regularly and her face was relatively dry, she knew it was late. She could hear students going off to lunch in the Great Hall. Oh well, she wasn't hungry anyway. She'd just keep going until supper. She started off again, face still red, in the direction of one of her favorite turning-wall hideaways. She said a spell, pointing at a certain spot on the wall, and it split, spitting her out in a dimly lit room. This was one of many she had, one of many she visited that day.  
  
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Had to end it eventually, didn't I? It's longer than the last one. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review if you'd be so kind. XD 


	3. An Unforeseen Meeting and Kind Words

Ah! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. I'm updating this again already because I won't be able to until the end of the week, possibly next week. I'll wait until a few more updates to clear things up because it's possible some questions will be answered in subsequent chapters. Happy reading!  
  
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By the last one of her rooms, through a trapdoor in one of the lesser-used Arithmancy classrooms (there were a number of them), her stomach was painfully clenched, and her hair was rightly knotted and tangled. Chloe sat against the wall of the small room, which was really more of an enlarged pit, breathing deeply and facing the opposite wall. A vision of how they first met played behind her eyelids.  
  
Chloe was well into her fifth year and she knew exactly who Sirius Black was. Her mother often criticized him, not for what he did, but that he did it so blatantly that he got caught. Chloe, personally, hated him, just like she hated her dead father. He was dead for a reason, he got what was coming to him, and she believed that about Sirius, whom she'd believed, like her mother, was a Voldemort supporter.  
  
Then, after a quidditch game, when she'd decided to take the long way round back to the castle, she'd seen a black dog at the edge of the forest, along with a ginger cat. This seemed a strange combination. It wasn't until most everyone had gone back that she entered the forest and followed the tracks.  
  
She hadn't gone very far when she bumped into a grown man with stringy black hair, bloodshot eyes, and a dirty, unshaven face. Underneath all that, though, she could tell he'd have been fairly handsome. He surprised her, and she'd fallen back, but he'd caught her. He'd said something; she couldn't remember. She was too shocked. But it somehow got them talking, and after hearing his story sometime later, she believed him. Later, she learned that he had hated his family just as much as she did hers for just the same reasons. From then on, the two could barely be parted whenever there was no reason not to be.  
  
The scene played over and over again, images of his drawn face, which she knew betrayed much more than physical pain, appearing the most. It was a pain shared, and she'd never forget it. A few shadows passed over the wall, and she heard uneven footsteps in the doorway as the light went on. Somebody was walking with a cane. She heard two voices, one young and male, the other older and female.  
  
"Potter . . . Harry, please wait here for the time being," the older voice said, and Chloe recognized it to be McGonagall's. She could tell the professor was trying to be sympathetic without breaking into tears. Chloe heard her walk away and guessed Harry had nodded. She heard some more footsteps; Harry was coming closer to her corner of the room. He must have caught sight of the open trapdoor, because a few moments later, his face was in the opening.  
  
Chloe just looked at him, and he just looked at her. They remained silent for what seemed like an hour to Chloe, but was only a number of seconds before Harry broke the silence. "What are you doing down here?" he asked, sounding thoroughly befuddled.  
  
"Thinking," she answered quietly. "It's a good place for that. Maybe you'll use it next year."  
  
He nodded. He seemed much more downcast than he usually did from what she could see, and she'd been watching him ever since she met Sirius. She'd give him updates on his condition when she saw him; that way he'd worry less and have more fun. That was certainly something Sirius loved to do.  
  
"You can come down here, you know," she said, not liking having to crane her neck. Harry looked toward the door, and then he jumped down. Chloe didn't think he cared much if he missed whomever he was meeting. "Who are you here for?"  
  
It took him a second to process and answer the question. "Someone from the Ministry wanted to come ask me a few questions, but I've been told not to answer."  
  
"I don't think they'll mind if you're fashionably late," she said, trying to be as nice as possible. She was glad when he chuckled a little.  
  
"I don't think so either. So you come down here a lot?" he queried.  
  
"When I've got things I need to digest, and I don't mean food. And when there are things I'd like to get away from."  
  
"Which are you here for now?"  
  
"Both, I guess," she answered after a beat. Thinking about it again made her chest hurt. He nodded again. She noticed then that he was against the wall next to her, his knees up to his chest, his chin resting on his knees. She tried to imagine being in his shoes for a moment. He'd lost his parents, was raised by fools who treated him like dirt, was being hunted by the Dark Lord, and had just lost the only family member he ever really had because he had so much love for him. It made her heart break again. She wished there were a way to help ease his pain. "My father's dead," she said after a long silence. "And my mother tells me I'm nothing."  
  
She was staring straight ahead, tears running down her cheeks again. She heard a strangled sob next to her. "It isn't fair, life, is it?" she said, turning to him. She saw his cheeks weren't dry either. He shook his head this time. "But you know, it isn't fair for anyone, anyone at all. We're all in the same boat, I guess. Pretty shitty that it's storming all the time, though."  
  
Harry finally turned to her. Neither could see without something being blurry. It started in the pit of his stomach, a low huffing sound that turned into a rumble, then a chortle. The room was quickly filled with the sound of the fifteen-year-old boy's laughter. Chloe smiled, now laughing, too. Before they knew it, they were hugging each other, shaking with laughter and sobs. Neither could believe the situation they were in, but they kept on for quite a while.  
  
A quarter of an hour later, they were unattached, both had dry cheeks, and both were chatting quietly. They talked about animagi, they talked about quidditch, they talked about how Transfiguration got harder in the later years, but the work itself wasn't that hard, it was only more complex. She prophesied that Harry would become an Auror, and Harry guessed Chloe would be the best satire columnist the Daily Prophet would ever get their hands on.  
  
She agreed with him, and then began talking about the idiosyncrasies of centaurs when they heard footsteps at least 10 seconds down the hall. Harry stood, poking his head out of the trapdoor. "That's him," he whispered, popping back down. "He's got someone with him, and he's talking up a storm."  
  
"I guess you'd better go, then. Close the door after you leave," she added as he climbed out. "And Harry?" she said as he was covering the square hole. He stopped and looked back down.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I'm really sorry about Sirius. I know it's hard, but you'll move on, I promise."  
  
"How'd you.." But Harry never finished his sentence. He dropped the door just as the Ministry man burst into the room. Chloe listened as best she could, but it was hard to hear with the door closed. She waited until all the sounds had stopped to leave her little chamber, and looking out the window, she found that night had fallen. It was too late to visit that other room.  
  
She sprinted down to the Great Hall, thankful that there were still a few people eating. She sat down, grabbed some fruit, drank a glass of pumpkin juice, and left the hall, going back to her dorm. The last thing she said to Harry had been easy to say, but it was nearly impossible for her to believe.  
  
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That's all. Hope you liked it! More things will happen in the next few chapters, and more songs. ^o^ (It's supposed to be a bat.) TTFN. 


	4. Wizard's Chess

Yes, another chapter again. Hopefully I'll have internet again soon after they tear it away from me. As another disclaimer, Weezer owns the song "Say It Ain't So," and Sum 41 owns "Still Waiting." Thanks again, everyone, for reading my story.  
  
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When she got back, she saw Jane and Stella setting up a game of Wizard's Chess. "I'll play one of you," Chloe said, sitting down on Jane's bed. The quaffle in her stomach had shrunk considerably and was now only the size of a bludger.  
  
"Play her," Stella said, pointing. "She'll win, bet you a silver sickle."  
  
"No thanks, I don't gamble," Chloe replied more coolly than she meant to, sitting down across from Jane. "My go first."  
  
They played with casual intensity, concentrating hard enough to formulate and follow through with complicated plans, but not so hard that they couldn't listen to Weezer (introduced by Chloe, which was introduced to her by a friend back in the States; Chloe loved to listen to Muggle music, it made her feel terribly rebellious and genius at the same time) and Stella's voice over it. She was in one of her gossip moods.  
  
" . . . and Cho was just crying and crying, she's almost as bad as Moaning Myrtle, that one, spending her time weeping in the bathroom . . . "  
  
Jane and Chloe ignored Stella for the most part, continuing with their game. Jane smiled as her bishop picked up Chloe's rook and smashed it against the side of the chessboard a few times before tossing it aside and taking its place. "Why you grinning?" Chloe taunted, "I've got more than half you're pieces."  
  
"I'm grinning," she replied, teeth showing between parted lips, "because I am going to win."  
  
"You're going to beat me with your king, your bishops, your rook, and three pawns?"  
  
Jane didn't reply, but kept grinning as Chloe made her next move, losing her other rook in the process. Jane hummed along to the song, occasionally adding words here and there: "Givin' me chills . . . oh yeah, alright . . . say it ain't so-o-o . . . your drug is a heartbreaker . . . say it ain't so- o-o, my love is a life-taker . . . . " Chloe grimaced, taking Jane's second knight.  
  
"Now what?" she asked. "Whatcha gonna do?"  
  
Stella broke in grumpily. "You're not listening to me, are you?"  
  
"Of course we are," said Jane smoothly. "Ginny Weasely and that Matt boy, or Michael, something with M, were never right for each other, and she's perfect with Seamus Flannahan."  
  
Stella flushed. "It's Seamus Finnigan, and no, Ginny's dating Dean Thomas now." Flustered, she got up and went down to the common room.  
  
"Thank Merlin! She's gone," Jane said, and Chloe smiled and agreed. Before she knew what was happening, Jane had won. "Told you so."  
  
Chloe stared, absolutely shocked. "But, but I've got nearly all your pieces! You were playing with three pawns and two bishops!"  
  
"Don't forget the king."  
  
"And the king! How'd you beat me?"  
  
"You can take as many pieces as you like, but I'm still going to win if you aren't more vicious on the attack. You're so cautious, look, barely any of your pawns have even moved. I didn't beat you by myself; your pawns did a great help blocking you in."  
  
Chloe bit her lip, looking at the board. Jane was right. She'd been too cautious with her pieces.  
  
"Don't worry, you don't have to give Stella any sickles. Play you again?"  
  
"Tomorrow OK?" Chloe asked, still looking at the board.  
  
"No problem, sweetheart. Same time, same place. Be there or be a circle." Jane left, and Chloe cleaned up the set with a sweep of her wand, smiling a bit at Jane's odd phrasesshe threw in. She tried for Muggle sayings now and again, but often she missed. It made her smile every time.  
  
Later, Chloe was lying in bed, overlarge blue-checked pajamas that Sirius had Remus buy for her one time hanging loosely on her slim form. Of course, he hadn't wanted to tell Remus about Chloe, so Sirius asked dear Remmykins to get the pajamas for him. This explained their largeness. She had her wand playing music only she could hear again. She kept thinking of her and Sirius's parents. She was listening to Sum 41.  
  
"So am I still waiting for this world to stop hating . . . how far will we take this? It's not hard to see through the thickness." She wasn't sure if she had the words right, but she liked them anyway. "This can't last forever, time won't make things better, I feel so alone, can't help myself, and no one knows that this is worthless to me." It was a very emotional song. It made her want to stand on a mountain and scream with all her might. Thankfully, she didn't, and still nobody knew a thing.  
  
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Next chapter will be up as soon as I can get internet access again, I promise. Things to come in the next couple chapters: Radiohead, a secret room with talking busts, and still more Weezer. Thank you much! Please review! 


	5. That Creeping Feeling

Alrighty! Internet is finally back. And I feel so loved! Thanks for the wonderful reviews. The following chapter ends in sort of a weird place, but it's because it would have been too long if it were part of the next chapter. Disclaimer for this chapter: Radiohead owns "Creep." One thing I have to apologize for: when the only space between two words is a period, it was meant to be ellipses, three periods in a row. I'll try putting spaces between them this time around; see if that works. I'll fix the other chapters if I can. Okay! Here it is, the next chapter.  
  
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Chloe awoke after everybody else that morning. Everyone had already gone down to breakfast by the time she brushed her hair painfully (too many tangles) and got dressed. She took the alone time and sat on her bed, looking at the empty chessboard.  
  
Jane had been right, she was being apprehensive, and Chloe hadn't figured out yet that that was the churning feeling she had deep in her gut. She was apprehensive about going forward with her own life without Sirius's being involved. She probably never would have known that had Jane not brought it up inadvertently. She still felt some of it, but she was glad she knew what it was. One cannot deal with an emotion one does not know one has.  
  
Now that she was past denial, she felt ready to go on a bit. He wasn't going to come back. He was really gone; it wasn't her fault, and it wasn't his. But there certainly wasn't anything she could do to bring him back, and she shouldn't dwell on it too much.  
  
But then there was a tenseness still in her gut that she could only place as anger, anger at the family he'd been angry enough at to leave, anger at her own mother, anger at his cousin, anger at the unfairness of everything.  
  
She heard people coming up the stairs, and she knew breakfast was nearly over. Stella and Jane liked to stay in the Great Hall as long as possible. She got up, stretching, feeling, instead of a gaping hole, a heavy weight deep in her chest. Jane asked what happened to her.  
  
"Went to sleep too late, I guess," she answered. "Overslept."  
  
Jane and Stella nodded. "We were going to lie out in the sun by the lake, you wanna come?" Stella asked her, picking up a towel.  
  
"No thanks, I think I'll just stay in the castle, saying my goodbyes, you know.."  
  
They understood and walked back down in flip-flops and shorts. Chloe smiled when she realized they were both wearing the same pair of expensive sunglasses they'd been so excited to get for Christmas but had had no reason to wear then. They also had some magical use, but Chloe didn't know what it was. The twins had kept it a secret. She sat back down on the bed. She lay all the way back, and suddenly her chest was completely filled again.  
  
She'd been deluding her self that she could get over Sirius that quickly. No, she wasn't in denial, and she wasn't angry, but the grief that had sneaked up on her was now overwhelming her. She crawled up to her pillow and sobbed into it. Everything was so unfair, how would she live without him, he'd been everything. "I can't take it," she sobbed into the pillow.  
  
She got up onto her knees, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her Gryffindor sweater. She took out her wand and played the first thing that came to mind, which was 'Creep' by Radiohead. She sat on her heels, looking down at her palms. She and Sirius had dragged razors across the lifelines of their palms so that they would scar over and be more prominent. The irony of it opened the floodgate, and soon her palms might as well have been lakebeds.  
  
She let herself cry for a few minutes, letting everything go. Finally, she let out a shuddering sigh and sat cross-legged. She imagined Sirius singing the song to her. He'd never actually done that, but she imagined what it would have been like had he done so. She shook her head.  
  
"You're just like an angel, your skin makes you cry, you float like a feather in a beautiful world . . . but I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here." And suddenly it wasn't Sirius singing the song to her, but she to him. "I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul. I want you to notice when I'm not around . . . wish I was special, but I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here . . ." She got up, shoving her wand into her pocket, the song still playing. "She runs, runs, runs." She headed toward the room she'd never visited. "But I'm a creep. I'm the weirdo."  
  
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I know it's a strange place to stop, but the special room is just one chapter away! Exciting, huh? Maybe not. NOTE: I know the issue of dragging razors across palms might be seen as controversial, so let me say that I meant no offense. Their intent was not 'Let's be depressed and cut ourselves,' nothing like that. It was more 'Let's get matching tattoos to show our everlasting love.' Right. Please don't be angry. It is just part of this story. Okay! On a lighter note: the next chapter includes a lot of stuff and will be quite long, so be prepared to sit in front of the screen for a while. I might even have to cut it into two more chapters. . . we'll see. I really like reviews, so review if you like the story! *_* 


	6. The Room of Hope and Despair

Grrr, those stupid things! I'm not putting those things as apostrophes; they're just turning out that way when I upload the document onto ff.net. Does anybody know why this is happening/how to stop it? Please let me know if you do. Okay, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! *drumroll*  
  
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She almost passed the door to the room. It wasn't really a door, but a weeping portrait blubbering to himself about how life was terrible and how morose he was. It was lucky Chloe stopped to agree with him or she certainly would have missed it.  
  
"Oh, dreadful, horribly awful," sobbed the painting.  
  
Chloe nodded. "I know just what you mean. It's not right, is it?" she asked more to herself than the portrait, but he answered anyway.  
  
"No, not right, perfectly wrong, it is . . . shouldn't happen to a decent person, just terrible . . . " he answered.  
  
"You know, I think we've got something in common," Chloe said, crossing her arms and tilting her head. Her tone matched the melancholies of the portrait.   
  
The portrait nodded, finally looking directly at her. "Do you despair?" he asked her in a slightly more-formal-than-needed tone.  
  
She looked at him for a long time, letting the question sink in. It finally did, and she nodded, meaning it. The painting suddenly slid up the wall just enough to let Chloe pass under a small opening that looked like a waterfall, but she was only wet during the passing. She came out dry on the other side, and she turned around just in time to see the portrait slide back down. She turned to face the room she'd just entered. "This is it," she thought, "this is the room."  
  
In front of her was a wide room with marble floors and two high walls. There was a large door on the opposite side ostensibly leading to another room. It was completely empty save for what lined the walls: two neat rows of white ceramic busts. On one side where there was a bust, there was one to match directly opposite. She tried to recognize some of the faces on them, but she couldn't find anyone she knew.   
  
"That's interesting," she thought, but thought nothing else and made to walk to the other side of the room. She'd taken a half step past the first pair of busts when she felt like somebody had shoved her back, and she landed hard against the wall she'd passed through moments before.   
  
Chloe stood up, dazed. She couldn't figure out what it was that had forced her back. She was pondering deeply, looking around, when she was startled to find the two busts she'd tried to pass arguing heatedly.  
  
"All your fault . . ." she caught out of the mouth of the one on her left.   
  
"Not welcome here, should have been thrown out decades ago," spat the other one. Before she'd completely come to her senses, the next pair of busts started arguing, then the next, and so on down the line until the noise gave her a headache.  
  
"Shut up!" she screamed as loudly as she could, but none of them seemed to have heard her. She stepped forward again, gently placing a finger out in front of her in line vertically with the mouths of the shouting busts. It bounced back behind her; then she brought it to rest by her side. "Very interesting," she thought.   
  
Then she put her hand over their heads, and nothing happened. She put her hand below, nothing happened. So to get across the room, all she had to do was crawl under. But they were so low she would have to shimmy on her stomach or crab-crawl on her back, making sure not to lift her knees to high. This she did, paying close attention to each pair of busts as she passed them.  
  
Finally, once she had gone far enough past the last pair (which wasn't very far, considering they were at most a foot from the door and she was brushing up against it), she stood up and wasn't thrown anywhere. She gave a sigh of relief and turned to the new challenge she faced. She thought of any passwords she would maybe need to recite, or a spell to unlock it. But would Alohamora work on this? She folded her arms and studied the door.   
  
"Oh I'm being silly . . . what would Sirius do? Burst through the door, no problem," she answered herself, and she reached out, tugging on the handle, and the door opened. "That's it?" she asked a little more loudly than she needed to, and the words echoed through both the room she'd passed through and the one she'd just opened the door to. The busts had slowly quieted down, and this was the first time she'd noticed.  
  
Still keeping in mind what Sirius would do, she crept into the new room, whispering "Lumos," and continuing with a faint light on her wand. She couldn't see much, but she could feel something like debris from a wreck as she waded through the room. She could now feel water seeping in through her shoes and socks. There was a faint glowing in front of her that wasn't her wand, and her eyes began to adjust. There were bulky shapes lying around the edges of the room with pillars in a circle around what looked to be some sort of shrine.   
  
As she came closer, and the water, now up to her calves, began to pull harder, she could tell it was a mirror. "Not the mirror of Erised…" she muttered. When she put her wand up to the top, she could tell it wasn't. She'd heard from eavesdropping on the golden trio (Hermione, Ron, and Harry) that it had an engraving on the top that marked it as such, and there was no such engraving on this dusty mirror.   
  
But as she looked down the sides, she saw markings engraved in the stone encasing the mirror that weren't letters from any language she'd ever heard of. She ran a finger along the markings; then she rubbed her sleeve against the dusty glass.  
  
Two things happened: the first thing was that lights came on in the room, from where she did not know; the second thing that happened was that she saw herself in the mirror, but a somewhat younger version. Her hair was longer. It must have been her sixth year. For a moment, it was just this younger Chloe staring back at her with a glowing light in her eyes that was typical of a love-struck teen. She wasn't smiling, but her eyes were.  
  
As Chloe watched, the background filled in. She was in the Shrieking Shack. The boards behind the girl in the mirror became apparent, as did the bed she was leaning against. Then the girl looked a little farther away as a darker figure appeared in front of her, which Chloe recognized as the weathered but still proud form of Sirius.   
  
Then she was watching from the profile of the two people, their lips met, the girl's hands met each other around the man's neck. His hands rested on her hips. Chloe could feel those hands on her hips and she shivered, the only part of her moving were her lips, which trembled uncontrollably. She stepped as close to the mirror as she could, tears beginning to cloud her vision. "No," she thought, blinking them away and wiping her eyes. "I have to see."  
  
The two forms were on the bed, some clothing removed, but the vital pieces still remaining attached to the bodies. After a long time of cuddling and kissing, the two relaxed into each other's arms and looked up at the torn canopy.  
  
"What's going to happen after all this is over, Siri?" the girl asked, her voice very far away, as if under water. Chloe had to strain to hear her.  
  
"What do you mean? After all what is over?" he answered, and Chloe shivered again at the sound of his voice.  
  
"This isn't going to last forever, is it? Either Harry or Voldemort is going to triumph, and although Harry seems an unlikely hero, he's got to win no matter what, so I know he will. So after he does, things won't quite be the same anymore, will they?"  
  
"Well, they'll be pretty damn close. People thought he was gone last time, and they celebrated for a while; in the meantime I mourned the Potters…" he trailed off, leaving both of them silent for a bit. "But then things quieted down, and people pretended things were the way they were before he came to power and ruined so many lives. It's just the way people are, it's in our nature to need things to be okay."  
  
The people in the mirror digested this insight as tears leaked from Chloe's eyes. His wisdom hadn't meant as much then as it did now. Her younger self continued.  
  
"So what'll happen between us? Next year I'll have to find a job. I think I'm gonna run away like you did. Knowing my mom, she'll keep anything I make just so I'll never be able to leave. She'll say it's for the family, but I know she'll spend it on some fancy thing for herself. So I'm leaving her, maybe live with a couple friends. But then I won't really be able to come see you very often, will I?"  
  
"You never know," he answered simply, and she hadn't known what he'd meant then. She did now, and she silenced a sob so that she could listen.  
  
"You think we'll be together forever?" the girl asked.  
  
"Of course. I can't leave you, and you can't leave me. We're together forever now no matter what, you know, and nothing will break us. It's like the Potters. Nothing came between them once they really found each other, not even death. They're still together now, I'd bet my life on it. And we will be too, no matter what. Not even death can break us."  
  
They both thought about that, as did Chloe. The memory faded from the mirror, and Chloe stepped back through the current of water. Random objects floated by, but she didn't notice. She went through the open door, closed it noiselessly, crawled under the quiet busts, and drew a square on the wall with her wand, opening the little waterfall. She didn't know how she knew what to do, but she didn't care to wonder.   
  
She passed through, brushed off her skirt and was standing, and quite dry for all the water she'd been through, listened to the moping portrait. She was surprised to find even her cheeks were dry. She still didn't bother to ask. As she turned to go back to Gryffindor Tower, she could have sworn she'd seen Albus Dumbledore out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't stop to confirm her suspicions. She had enough to digest as it was.  
  
****  
  
I know that was really long so I won't spend too much time talking here. I'm really sorry for all those weird things! I don't know how to make them go away. If you do, please let me know! And thank you for reviewing 


	7. Healing

Well, I think if I just send the chapters to my friend and have her post them, the weirdo things will not be a problem. I liked that chapter. ^_^ Okay, we're almost done here. And soon enough you will find out where the title came from! Hurray! Right. Reviews are mega-cool, so please review and tell me if this story strikes you as extraordinary. I'm exaggerating, but still. Reviews make me happy. Disclaimer: Weezer owns "Only in Dreams."  
  
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Back at the dorm, Chloe had been even more subdued than usual, but Jane and Stella had had enough of leaving her alone. They chatted all about the things they'd been chatting about for the past few months, what kind of jobs they were going to get, their last day at Hogwarts being the next day, reminiscing about everything they'd ever done there.  
  
Finally, as the last girls in the dorm went to sleep, Stella and Jane told Chloe about a party the guys were throwing in their dorm, and they asked her if she'd like to come. She turned them down. It might have been fun had it been any other night, but she knew it would be useless to go. It would only worsen any heavy thoughts on her mind. They prodded, but she persisted, so they changed into more comfortable clothes and left, quietly complaining the entire time.  
  
She watched them leave; then she put her head back onto her pillow. She pulled her wand from the folds of her robes, holding it in her hand for a moment before charming it to play "Only in Dreams," another Weezer song. A small wisp of pink smoke issued from her wand before fading away as the song started to play.  
  
"You can't resist her," she followed along in her head, "she's in your bones. She is your marrow and your ride home. You can't avoid her; she's in the air between the molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Only in dreams, we see what it means, reach out our hands, hold on to hers, but when we wake, it's all been erased. And so it seems, only in dreams. You walk up to her - ask her to dance. She says, 'Hey, baby, I just might take the chance.' You say it's a good thing that you float in the air; that way there's no way that I will crush your pretty toenails into a thousand pieces. Only in dreams we see what it means, reach out our hands, hold on to hers, but when we wake, it's all been erased. And so it seems, only in dreams." She kept listening, imagining the first time she and Sirius had danced.  
  
It warmed her heart to remember his comforting embrace. She was surprised to find that there was no more pain, no sadness. There was only the memory of how good she'd felt just being with him. She slowly drifted off to sleep with that feeling resonating through her.  
  
She woke up about the same time as Stella and Jane did, and they all got dressed and went down to breakfast together. They savored their last day, talking to all the other seventh years, even those in other houses. They trekked all over the castle and outside on the grounds. They said tearful goodbyes to their favorite teachers and Hagrid, whom Chloe had particularly liked.  
  
In the afternoon, a whole bunch of the Gryffindor seventh years went out to the lake, and they all played games and talked and laughed, everything was wonderful. It was the first time in days Chloe had felt so full of life. She felt like herself again. As the sun began to dip, almost touching the lake, everyone went back inside to get ready for the feast. Chloe, Stella, and Jane all changed into their finest robes and went down to the Great Hall, arms linked. Some other seventh year girls, some smiling, some weeping, joined them, and they entered the Hall in something like a huddle.  
  
Chloe and the others listened quietly to Dumbledore's speech, but Chloe didn't hear. It was just words out of the mouth of a professor she'd never have again. After tonight, she wouldn't belong there anymore, and it was a strange feeling. She imagined that it wouldn't really sink in for about a month, anyway.  
  
She thought about her summer instead, which she'd be spending a lot of with Jane and Stella. Their father had hired her to work at their shop over the summer. She was going to save up every knut she made and use it to buy her own apartment in London, maybe somewhere near Diagon Alley. Anything was fine as long as it wasn't with her mother.  
  
The feast began, and everybody tucked in as they'd been told. It was the most Chloe had eaten all that week, and she shoveled down food greedily. Eventually things began to wind down. She and her friends lingered, talking after they'd finished eating with the others left at the table. Finally, they all went back to the dorm. When they pushed through the portrait, Chloe last in line (to her disgruntlement), she stood up to find a gaggle of seventh year girls and boys saying "Surprise!" and wishing her a happy birthday. For the first time that week, she cried tears of happiness.  
  
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One chapter left, guys! Can you just feel the excitement? I know I can! Alright, that's enough. To see what happens to Chloe, you'll just have to read the next chapter! It's not actually that suspenseful. I'm just being silly. Okay, review if you liked it! 


	8. Something More

Here it is, folks, the chapter everybody's been waiting for. *drumroll* The conclusion to Something More. I thank all my magnificent reviewers and faithful readers. I hope you enjoy the last chapter. Disclaimer: "Something More" belongs to Sinch. Well, on with the story!  
  
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In the morning, Chloe got up to pack all her things. She ate a piece of cake that was left on her trunk, and then she tossed a bunch of clothes into it. She shuffled some things to make room and uncovered a picture Sirius had given to her. She had to say a spell to make his face appear (just in case somebody found it lying around and asked why she had a picture of a crazed murderer), but she knew exactly what it was when she saw it. There was another in there that she pulled out.  
  
She suddenly had an idea of what to do with the copy. She slid it into a pocket and went down to breakfast after packing, meeting some groggy but overall happy looks. After this, freedom! They all had that on their minds. After breakfast was the usual routine of finishing the packing and bustling to the carriages to be carted back to the train station at Hogsmeade.  
  
Before leaving, though, she rushed up to the Boys' Dorms and left the picture with a note inside Harry Potter's open trunk, to which he hadn't yet returned from breakfast. Neither had any of the other members of his dorm, and that was helpful. She made sure it was easily reached but not obviously noticeable right away. She wanted him to read it at the Durlseys'.  
  
The note read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I'd just like to let you know that Sirius Black was a personal friend of mine through a series of strange happenings. Our families knew each other, and we both hate (and hated) them for the same reasons. I wanted you to know that he never regretted anything and loved you like a son and a brother. He loved you like James, but he knew you weren't your father. It took him a while to realize that, but he did, and he loved you all the more for it. I hope you can take some courage from this. Attached is a picture of him from his glory days. Tap it with your wand three times and say: "Sirius Black is the best Marauder." In case you didn't know, he came up with that incantation all on his own. Owl me if you ever want to talk; Hedwig will know how to find me.  
  
Another friendly soul in mourning,  
  
Chloe Shore  
  
The next time Chloe saw Harry was on the train. Chloe was in a compartment with Stella and Jane who were taking out more cake to eat on the way. Harry passed by with his trunk and owl cage. They smiled briefly at each other, and that was that. It was all it needed to be.  
  
Jane and Stella fell asleep about an hour into the journey, leaving Chloe some quiet time to look out the window and think. She took out her wand and played "Something More" by Sinch so that only she could hear. And as she did so, every single memory of Sirius flowed through her mind.  
  
"The worst is yet to come, so vulnerable and dumb, say the words and I'll dissolve. Tell me how long this should last; I've been forgetting how to act, and these memories will burn like gasoline." Suddenly, she and Sirius were dancing cheek to cheek in the Shrieking Shack.  
  
"And I believe there's something more, 'cause this isn't what I've been looking for. And if I blink my eyes I'm afraid I might miss some of it. This makes no sense, a mirage of an oasis. And it kills my time." They were tossing a quaffle back and forth while talking in the Forbidden Forest.  
  
"Trying to remember what I sought, I never gave it that much thought. Does it really matter at all? 'Cause there really is no time for opening up my eyes 'cause you know that I have seen it all before." They were in a heated argument.  
  
"And I believe there's something more, 'cause this isn't what I've been looking for. And if I blink my eyes, I'm afraid I might miss some of it. This makes no sense, a mirage of an oasis. And it kills my time." They made up.  
  
"Well I wish that I could always feel this good, wish that I could always feel this way, wish that I could always feel this good, I wish that I could always know what's out there." They were in the bed in the Shrieking Shack wondering what would happen to them.  
  
" 'Cause I believe there's something more, 'cause this isn't what I've been looking for. And if I blink my eyes I'm afraid I might miss some of it. And this makes no sense, a mirage of an oasis, and it kills my time. Well, wish that I could always feel this good, wish that I could always feel this way, wish that I could always feel this good, wishing I could always . . . " she trailed off.  
  
It slowly dawned upon her what Sirius had meant when he'd told her that not even death could break them apart. Sirius wasn't dead; he could never, ever die. He was too much of a wizard in life to be dissolved that easily. He was still there; he'd always be there. Chloe would just never be able to be with him again, that was all. She had pictures in her head and in her trunk, she had memories, she could still hear his voice. And that was all she would need.  
  
She could feel him sitting next to her, pointing out odd shapes in mountains and saying which clouds were ships and which were dragons. And they rode back for the last time on the Hogwarts Express to part ways forever at King's Cross Station. But spiritually, nothing could break them. Not even death.  
  
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The End! What did you think? Please review and tell me how it was. I'm thinking if I get maybe 50 reviews (which is improbable but not impossible) I'll write a sequel. And tell others about it if you liked it. Share the love! Right. Well I certainly enjoyed writing this story, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. But I don't know if you did if you don't tell me! Okay I'll stop beating the dead horse now. Farewell, my lovelies! 


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